Thank you for my eARC of this book. I had my eye on this for a while and I’m sad it took me so long to get to it! Though I struggled with the pacing at times, this is a beautifully written book that I would absolutely recommend and I can’t wait to read more of Adébáyò‘a work!

If you loved the crystal clear prose and complex characters that dominated the authors first novel, Stay With Me, then you’ll enjoy A Spell of Good Things. This second novel delves much more into contemporary political themes, larger power dynamics and wealth inequality - making for compelling and eye-opening reading.

This book is set in Nigeria and follows two very different characters. Unfortunately the book was too slow paced. I did enjoy the ending though

Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. Because his father has lost his job, Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers, begging when he must, dreaming of a big future.

Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of an ascendant politician.

When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola's lives become intertwined.

I had really, really high hopes for this book, but unfortunately the characters fell flat and acted in complete cliches and the story seemed very predictable from the start.

The pace of the novel was just too inconsistent to build a relationship with any of the characters.

Genuinely one of the best books I read this year. Ayobami is a master of words. Her portrayal was well executed.

Really enjoyable read! Fantastic writing and really compelling storytelling
Thank you for the chance to read and review!

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is a stellar writer there is no denying it. This is not your happy novel, she unflinchingly takes us to a town in Nigeria and shows us how the wealth gap lead to persons doing things they wouldn’t usually do. It is a hard novel to read but there is a sense of hopelessness but I think we need literature like this. The ones that makes us sit with difficult things.


The writing is beautiful and I cannot recommend this enough.

A Spell of Good Things follows Eniola, a boy whose family is pushed into poverty when his father loses his job, and Wuraola, a bright young doctor with an ambitious family keen to rise through the social ranks. For much of the book their stories remain separate as they each try to overcome their personal challenges but when their worlds come together right at the end of the novel the effect is both masterful and devastating.

Adebayo writes characters beautifully. I felt like both Eniola and Wuraolo could have been real people so well was their interiority explored on the page. Eniola embodied the contradictions that exist in young people right on the cusp of adulthood. That desire to make your own way in the world whilst still being naïve and dependent on a loving and effective support system. I felt so bad for him as he tried to step in and take on the role of provider that his father, in his depression after losing his job, was no longer able to fulfil.

Wuraola's story was also hard to read, knowing that although she has everything she could ever need materially her job as a doctor leaves her exhausted and depleted working in a system unable to provide basic supplies for patients.

A Spell of Good Things reminded me of the power of fiction to explore social themes through empathy and emotional connection. Adebayo did this expertly. By simply telling the stories of Eniola and Wuraola, the author introduced themes of corruption, poverty, depression, family dynamics and domestic violence without me ever feeling like these themes were being forced down my throat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this understated yet powerful novel which deserves its place on the 2023 Booker Prize longlist. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to receive an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this novel! It was quite slow to start with, most of the action happened in the last 20%. So, the pacing could've been better. However, great little book.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the copy of it, I really appreciate it! :)

As much as i really enjoyed this novel it didn't live up to the expectation.
I had high hopes of exciting storylines but instead it was an easy to read, predictable tale that didn't really get me too excited.

I finished A Spell of Good Things last night (I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley but only got around to reading it when it was longlisted for the Booker) and overall I really enjoyed it.

Set in Nigeria, there are two really contrasting characters we follow - Wuraola, a doctor trying to live up to her successful parents expectations of a good career and good marriage and Eniola, a boy who had a bright future but lost this when his teacher father lost his job and now they struggle to make ends meet. It was fascinating reading about their contrasting lives and how despite their wildly different circumstances, they had a lot in common.

I felt as though I learnt a lot about life in Nigeria and there were some aspects of the country’s history that I found myself researching more after reading about it. I found Eniola’s story the most interesting to see how a boy fought hard for his education, knowing it was the key to a better future but also found Wuraola’s attitude towards her relationship interesting and the way she felt the pressure to make a match that appeared good in public, even if it wasn’t in private.

The violence in the story was quite shocking and the ending was very dramatic - it felt as though the whole book had been building to it and it was a satisfying conclusion.

This is an astonishing book, incredibly powerful, beautifully written and searingly heartfelt. I thought it was even better than her first book. 5 stars.

I was intrigued by this novel’s premise but managed to forget that I had it until I saw that it had been nominated for the Booker, upon which I decided to finally get round to reading it. It tells the story of two families in Nigeria, one with privilege and one without, and how their lives begin to intertwine. It was much more hard-hitting than I anticipated, and did not hold back on depictions of poverty, abuse and corruption, but I also felt it was a little slow and there was too much exposition. The final 10%, though, had me hooked and the build up did pay off.

I loved Ayobami Adebayo's debut, Stay With Me, and was so excited to read this. Although very different from Stay With Me, it still gave a fascinating and heartbreaking look into Nigerian life. I will read whatever Adebayo writes next. Big fan!

This was absolutely the wrong time for me to try to read this. The book is too stressful for where my head is currently (or has been for a while, if I am being perfectly honest here). As always, the characterisation was pitch-perfect but that made for a very stressful reading experience.

I really wanted to love this one, but while I admired it and learned a lot about modern Nigeria from it I always felt that I was at arms length from the story and while the use of Nigerian names and phrases was interesting I wanted subtitles to the book a lot of the time.

Still very keen to read what Adebayo writes next but sadly this one wasn't for me

The two narrative voices in the story are on either side of the social divide in Nigeria. One is Eniola, a boy who has had to shoulder the pressures of the household because his father has retreated into a shell because of the loss of his job. The other is Wuraola, who is a first-year resident at the hospital and trying to find some respite from her gruelling schedule.
The social circles are quite distinct, and the borders are clear.
Although the troubles facing both our lead characters are different, and one may seem to pale in seriousness to the other, over the course of the book, we find out how much the past moulds everything and all the other players in each situation.
Eniola was told to expect to join a prestigious institution, and although he does not have many scholastic goals in life and is actually better at sewing, he starts to crave that school position and all that it stands for. He sets the ball rolling for the ultimate sad ending. Wuraola, on the other hand, has technically achieved her (and her family's) dreams. Society's plans for her are chaffing her, especially since her fiance is starting to show his true colours.
In either story, there is a push and pull of affection between siblings, focus on family and how past traumas rear their heads. I found it very illuminating and believable. I would have rated it higher if not for the utter desolation of the ending.
I did not expect a happily-ever-after, nor did I hope everyone involved would learn their lessons and grow. I was hoping for some form of closure. The ending did not give that to me. After all the in-depth people-watching that we did, it felt like everything was a moot point. I could not shrug off the gloom for a while.
This last point may be seen as a complaint, but it also shows the skill of the author to make and keep me emotionally invested in the characters.
I would recommend this book to those readers who seek out stories of strife in places they have not visited before and do not mind a more realistic, if depressing, ending.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

A Spell of Good Things showcases the lives of two very different families in Nigeria.

Eniola is a boy who looks like a man, but one stuck in a never ending cycle of poverty since his father lost his job. There's never enough money to buy food, pay rent and pay for his and his sister's school fees or apprenticeship. No matter how hard his mother tries, she just can't make ends meet.

Wuraola is a young doctor from a wealthy family, exhausted and constantly under pressure at work, money is not an issue for her. She has her own problems though, her boyfriend Kunle is volatile and controlling, yet she's ignoring the red flags because of the societal pressure to be married. When Eniola discovers a way to make some easy money, he sets himself on a collision course with Wuraola's family; one that is doomed to end in tragedy.

This is a hard-hitting and thought provoking novel. It doesn't shy away from difficult and painful topics. The author puts a spotlight on the soul crushing reality of living in poverty. Of borrowing from Bill to pay Ben, but never knowing where the money to pay Bill back will come from. You can't help but feel for Eniola; forced to go to school by his parents because education is the most important thing, yet whipped every morning because his parent's have not paid the school fees. Adébáyọ̀ truly brings the plight of his family to life.

The wealth disparity is equally hard-hitting; Wuraola's family is as far apart from the poverty of Eniola's that it's jarring. Her narrative has it's own darkly powerful moments though, shining a light on domestic abuse and the reasons those emmeshed find to stay. There were moments where I genuinely wanted to scream at her. With both families getting involved in local politics but in very different ways, the collision course is set even if they don't know it yet.

All in all, this is a powerful and hard hitting novel. It's slow moving and Adébáyọ̀ spends a lot of time building up the characters and side characters. I quite appreciated this, it brought the lives of the individuals stark definition. It is also undeniably bleak at points; whilst there is humour, it can't hide the misery, poverty and abuses on display.

Many thanks to NetGalley for my free review copy of this title.

This cover and title got me intrigued… and I loved this!Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.
An absolutely heartbreaking, gripping and beautiful story. Impossible to resist, impossible to predict, impossible to put down . . .

This was a really powerful story, that felt very emotional and raw to me. It hit me in ways I didn't expect. Adebayo has a beautiful way with words. I can't wait to read her next book.